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The race for the fourth spot is heating up, with three teams in the fray to claim Champions League qualification. At the moment, Chelsea enjoy a six-point lead over Manchester United and Arsenal, but with the West London outfit clashing swords with their North London counterparts on Saturday, all could change.
After an encouraging initial salvo, the Gunners lost their way during the festive period, with the horror show at Anfield sandwiched between equally toothless displays at Brighton and West Ham.
Their only league victories since the resounding success against Tottenham have been at home to Fulham, Burnley, and Huddersfield.
Thus, the Gunners now find themselves at a crossroad, with further losses carrying the potential to derail their bid for a top four spot.
Over the past couple of months, Arsenal has endured several injuries, and though things are looking up on that front, Emery still hasn’t been able to strike the right balance in terms of personnel.
With Chelsea scheduled to visit on Saturday evening, the Spaniard needs to get his team selection right in order to avenge the 3-2 defeat at Stamford Bridge.
Thus, in this article we take a look at three changes he needs to make, laying the foundation for a solid Arsenal performance.
#3 Bring in Hector Bellerin for Maitland-Niles
Since the middle of December, Arsenal has been hit hard by injuries. While the loss of Rob Holding significantly weakened their rear-guard, the injury to Bellerin rid the Gunners of attacking impetus.
In Emery’s first season, the right-back has taken his game up a notch, and has improved defensively. Though his replacement, Maitland-Niles, hasn’t been too bad, he has failed to create the same impact as Bellerin.
Moreover, Emery likes his full backs to overlap, providing width, and Bellerin does exactly that with his runs down the right providing an extremely useful attacking outlet.
While the Spaniard’s final ball still has room for improvement, his ability to go up and down the flanks has sorely been missed in recent weeks. Thus, it comes as no coincidence that the Gunners have won only three league games since Bellerin hobbled off at half-time on the South coast.
One of Chelsea’s weakest links is Marcus Alonso, with the full-back not so sound defensively. Thus, it would make perfect sense to bring Bellerin into the fold, and let him attack his compatriot.
The game of football is usually decided by extremely fine margins, and Bellerin vs Alonso could just be that.
#2 Start Lucas Torreira
The Uruguayan has instantly struck a chord with the Arsenal faithful since arriving from Sampdoria. Yet, over the past month, he has found himself on the periphery.
Torreira was initially left out against Fulham following an illness, and due to Guendouzi's form, he hasn’t returned.
Though the Frenchman has impressed whenever called upon, and shows plenty of drive in midfield, he just falls short of the innate quality Torreira boasts of.
The diminutive Uruguayan is a master at breaking up play and cutting off passing lanes. Jorginho is expected to orchestrate the play for the visitors, and if Torreira can effectively reduce his passing options, Arsenal can win the ball high up the pitch and put the Italian under pressure.
Tottenham and Manchester City have shown previously how Jorginho struggles when confronted with pressure. Thus, including Torreira to enable the Gunners turn the screw seems a no-brainer.
In addition, the Uruguayan possesses an incredible passing range, and helps Arsenal in building attacks from the back.
Moreover, his partnership with Xhaka looks the best midfield pair Arsenal can put out on the field.
Emery has caused a furrowed brow or two in recent times with his team selection. Yet bringing in Torreira doesn’t seem to be that tough a call.
But with Emery, you never know.
#1 Recall Mesut Ozil
The enigmatic German has been frozen out for a while now with various reasons (some believable and some not quite) being cited for his unavailability.
Last weekend, Emery dodged the question of Ozil’s exclusion and focused on the players that eventually made the trip to East London. Something certainly doesn’t seem right, and though both parties have sufficient time to resolve their differences, they simply need to be on the same page when Sarri’s men pay a visit.
Chelsea has looked defensively shaky throughout the season, and with Arsenal playing at the Emirates, the latter should pull out all the stops to put the former under the cosh.
Historically, Ozil has enjoyed decent displays against Chelsea at home, with a masterful display at the start of the 2016-17 season quickly springing to mind.
Hence, on Saturday, with a top four spot up for grabs, Emery needs to fight fire with fire and trust the German to come up trumps.
To accommodate Ozil, Emery might have to tweak his system to a 4-2-3-1. But there is enough to suggest that the gamble could well be worthwhile.
On his day, Ozil is irresistible, as his display against Leicester earlier in the season portrayed. Thus it is a shame that he hasn’t conjured more of those magical days.
There isn’t anything as dangerous as a wounded tiger, and Ozil would certainly be seething at Emery’s reluctance to play him.
The pent up emotions could just enable Ozil scale the enormous heights he is capable of. All Emery needs to do now is give the German a chance to weave his magic at the Emirates.
